CHAPTER 8 . Quality Status, Appropriate Monitoring and Legislation of the North Sea
167
accumulation of contaminants at different sites (air-sea interface, surficial benthic sediments).
Biologically-orientated objectives and standards for marine environmental quality
(i.e. EcoQSs) should be based on a taxonomic range of species (microalgae to fish),
representatives of functional ecological groups (autotrophs, heterotrophs, symbionts)
from different habitats (pelagic, benthic epifauna and infauna, planktonic), modes of
toxic action (genotoxic, respiratory inhibition, endocrine mimic) and life phases (egg,
embryo, larva, adult).
The heterogeneity of contaminant distribution. The deployment of techniques to
assess contamination in the marine environment does not reflect the known heterogeneity in contaminant distribution (see Table 8.1). It has been shown that contaminants
bind to1particles, especially those which are fine and organic (POC). They are also highly
mobile, and both a substrate and food for many species. At the sea surface buoyant organic-rich particles provide the substrate for a specific community of microzooplankton
and specialist neuston species, apart from the transient embryonic and larval stages of
benthic invertebrates and pelagic fish. Yet here contaminants accumulate to concentrations orders of magnitude greater than the immediate subsurface. Thus contaminants accumulate on more dense but highly mobile organic particulate substrates, which
are sites of biological activity. If such sites are where contaminants accumulate, it is here
that monitoring effort should be focussed, particularly since it is where biological activity is often greatest.
Cost-effectiveness of an integrated approach. Present legislation, and consequent
monitoring effort, requires chemical analysis for those named contaminants for which
legislation exists. This strategy leads to considerable redundancy in monitoring effort.
Many contaminants are below the detection threshold of available analytical techniques.
Other contaminants are only present at inconsequential concentrations. Although required by legislation, 'such effort is wasted, leading regulators to direct effort in a way
that is required by the legislation, but does not adequately serve its purpose, which is
to protect the biological quality of the marine environment.
The approach advocated here is to use biological monitoring as the means of
overall monitoring and surveillance, using a suite of tested and robust techniques.
Such tec;;hniques should be widely deployed over the area for which the regulator is
responsible at regular intervals. The distribution of sampling efforts needs to be informed by knowledge of the relevant environmental processes. In particular understanding of contaminant transport and behaviour incorporated in simulation models
(Taylor 1987) should be used to focus and minimize monitoring (Radford and
West 1986)
No chemical technique should be as widely or frequently deployed, since it is assumed failure to detect any biological impact implies that environmental health is satisfactory and sustainable. The chemical mbnitoring capability should be reserved for
deployment alongside biological techniques to establish causality when depressed water
quality is detected (Stebbing and Harris 1988). Such a strategy would not only be more
effective in detecting new contaminants, but could more economically provide improved awareness of the utilisation of assimilative capacity and the health of the
North Sea ecosystems.
167
accumulation of contaminants at different sites (air-sea interface, surficial benthic sediments).
Biologically-orientated objectives and standards for marine environmental quality
(i.e. EcoQSs) should be based on a taxonomic range of species (microalgae to fish),
representatives of functional ecological groups (autotrophs, heterotrophs, symbionts)
from different habitats (pelagic, benthic epifauna and infauna, planktonic), modes of
toxic action (genotoxic, respiratory inhibition, endocrine mimic) and life phases (egg,
embryo, larva, adult).
The heterogeneity of contaminant distribution. The deployment of techniques to
assess contamination in the marine environment does not reflect the known heterogeneity in contaminant distribution (see Table 8.1). It has been shown that contaminants
bind to1particles, especially those which are fine and organic (POC). They are also highly
mobile, and both a substrate and food for many species. At the sea surface buoyant organic-rich particles provide the substrate for a specific community of microzooplankton
and specialist neuston species, apart from the transient embryonic and larval stages of
benthic invertebrates and pelagic fish. Yet here contaminants accumulate to concentrations orders of magnitude greater than the immediate subsurface. Thus contaminants accumulate on more dense but highly mobile organic particulate substrates, which
are sites of biological activity. If such sites are where contaminants accumulate, it is here
that monitoring effort should be focussed, particularly since it is where biological activity is often greatest.
Cost-effectiveness of an integrated approach. Present legislation, and consequent
monitoring effort, requires chemical analysis for those named contaminants for which
legislation exists. This strategy leads to considerable redundancy in monitoring effort.
Many contaminants are below the detection threshold of available analytical techniques.
Other contaminants are only present at inconsequential concentrations. Although required by legislation, 'such effort is wasted, leading regulators to direct effort in a way
that is required by the legislation, but does not adequately serve its purpose, which is
to protect the biological quality of the marine environment.
The approach advocated here is to use biological monitoring as the means of
overall monitoring and surveillance, using a suite of tested and robust techniques.
Such tec;;hniques should be widely deployed over the area for which the regulator is
responsible at regular intervals. The distribution of sampling efforts needs to be informed by knowledge of the relevant environmental processes. In particular understanding of contaminant transport and behaviour incorporated in simulation models
(Taylor 1987) should be used to focus and minimize monitoring (Radford and
West 1986)
No chemical technique should be as widely or frequently deployed, since it is assumed failure to detect any biological impact implies that environmental health is satisfactory and sustainable. The chemical mbnitoring capability should be reserved for
deployment alongside biological techniques to establish causality when depressed water
quality is detected (Stebbing and Harris 1988). Such a strategy would not only be more
effective in detecting new contaminants, but could more economically provide improved awareness of the utilisation of assimilative capacity and the health of the
North Sea ecosystems.